Book 1: Echoing Voices - Warriors

Chapter 27

Drizzlepaw's POV

Blackhawk and Drizzlepaw peered through the small holes in the foliage protecting the camp. There were cats everywhere.
Spottedpaw and Runningwillow were hunting for some prey so maybe it wouldn't look so suspicious in case they were caught sneaking in.
"This isn't going to work." Drizzlepaw whispered softly.
"Way to keep things positive." Blackhawk muttered.
"Wasn't my goal in the first place." Drizzlepaw replied, who's voice barely able to be heard.
Blackhawk's whiskers twitched, he didn't reply. He narrowed his eyes slowly.
"We might just have to go in and say we were prisoners." Drizzlepaw mumbled, "It would be an easy way into the tunnels. Do you know any of these cats?"
Blackhawk's ears flattened slowly, "No. In Raven's group, you almost never see the same cat twice."
"That's a really stupid tactic." Drizzlepaw commented.
"Her group is successful, so it's not like it matters." Blackhawk answered.
"Okay, I'm going in." Drizzlepaw meowed.
Without waiting for a response, he leapt through the bush and into the open clearing in front of the cats. He could barely hear the sound of Blackhawk's warning hiss.
"Oh, no...I accidentally stumbled onto the grounds of Raven's army..." Drizzlepaw meowed.
The cats exchanged a few glances as if they didn't know what to do for a second. They quickly regained their composer and all made a formation of a circle around him.
Not good.
Drizzlepaw flattened his ears, "Look, uh...friends — mind if I call you friends? — Um, this is just a misunderstanding. I just was chasing a squirrel and accidentally stumbled into here." he insisted, trying to keep up character, though he was genuinely started to feel uneasy.
Well, maybe he and Blackhawk should have leapt out, then this plan would've worked better.
"We should take him to the pits." a cat said.
"No, no. Raven should take care of him." another replied.
"How about the tunnels?" a black and white cat asked.
"Those are strictly for Clan cats, bee-brain!" someone else scolded.
Drizzlepaw perked his ears at that comment.
Raven is going for Clan cats?
"Um, well to make your job easier, I uh...I'm a Clan cat." Drizzlepaw muttered.
Every head turned to him, their expressions lit up. There was at least seven cats around him, and it felt like he was going to be shredded at any second now.
Instead, some random white she-cat with dark blue eyes stepped into the circle, "I'll take him to the tunnels." she announced.
The other cats seemed to lower their heads in almost a respectful way. Drizzlepaw narrowed his eyes.
What's that all about? he wondered what was so special about this she-cat.
She padded over to him, her eyes narrowed, "Get moving." she hissed into his ear, "Don't make this harder for me."
Drizzlepaw lowered his head slightly, "As you wish." he growled back.

The she-cat lead him to the tunnels and he held back any excitement that was possible for him to let out. She shoved him in and he practically tripped into the tunnel.
"Get in, quickly." she demanded, following close behind.
"I wouldn't want you to get your nice white pelt dirty." Drizzlepaw sneered.
She let out a growl, it was pretty low for someone with a voice like her's.
"I'm going to help you, don't make me regret it." she spat.
Drizzlepaw fell silent as he was engulfed into the blackness that was the underground. The feeling of being squished was back, he remembers the feeling when he was first in the tunnels, being guided out by the random tom.
Lavenderseed had been there.
Drizzlepaw hesitated to ask, but he did, "Do you know Lavenderseed-"
"-and Auburnpaw? Yes. I'll lead you to them, but you must agree that I never helped you." she answered.
Her voice was lighter now that we were deeper into the tunnel. From what little light there was, her white fur still reflected it off. Drizzlepaw's fur just started to blend into the darkness.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked.
She didn't reply.
"Who are you?"
No reply.
Okay, no more questions, got it. Drizzlepaw fell silent and he could feel the tunnel start to thin out, both of his flanks were now brushing against the sides and the feeling of claustrophobia was beginning to actually get to him.
When the walls suddenly opened into a larger area, The white she-cat brushed past him quickly and headed in another direction.
More dirt.
Drizzlepaw swallowed and his mind drifted to Auburnpaw. The last time he had seen the ThunderClan cat, he looked almost dead. Meadowfern had obviously been panicking over something when she was with him.
"Lavenderseed and her kits are fine. Auburnpaw, however, is still unconscious." the she-cat practically read his thoughts.
A chilling feeling went down his spine and something like a rock dropped in his stomach, "You mean, he's been unconscious for almost two and a half days?" he demanded.
The she-cat was quiet for a moment, "Sometimes he was conscious enough to speak lightly, drink, and eat, but that was it. He would drop back into unconsciousness. The words he spoke were just gibberish, unidentifiable." she explained.
Drizzlepaw glanced down and frowned. That didn't help the put in his stomach.

"There are others." the she-cat spoke again.
Drizzlepaw was unsure how long they had been walking, but most of the time, she didn't say anything.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"We have many Clan cats here." she answered.
Drizzlepaw's eyes widened, "What are the names?"
"I can't say, but one was killed yesterday. This is why I am helping you." she meowed.
Drizzlepaw felt his heart rate rise out of panic, "Who?"
The she-cat seemed hesitant to answer, but she did, "Ashfrost of ThunderClan." she meowed.
Drizzlepaw let himself relax. He knew it was wrong for him to be relieved, but it wasn't anyone he knew closely.
"Was it Raven?" he asked, still slightly shaken.
If these cats were actually willing to kill, they were dangerous. But what was their motives?
"No. It was another ThunderClan cat." she answered.
That made Drizzlepaw stop where he was, "What?" he rasped.
"Raven knows how to manipulate. She's going to watch as each one of you tears each other apart. One-by-one. She thinks of it as some sort of entertainment." she explained.
"And by helping me, I'm guessing you disagree with this." Drizzlepaw meowed.
She turned around and locked her gaze onto his, "I'm doing this because I'm not going to be responsible for something like that again." she muttered, her voice was suddenly hoarse.
It went rough from guilt and shame.
Drizzlepaw didn't press, but he curiosity only grew.

It wasn't much longer when they reached one more opening. Drizzlepaw immediately spotted two cats. One was laying limply on the ground and the other was hovering over in a sitting position. He pushed past the white she-cat and over to them.
"Lavenderseed?" he called out.
The sitting cat's head shot up and her eyes rounded with relief, "Drizzlepaw!" she whisper-exclaimed.
They both greeted each other with a curt nod and Drizzlepaw walked around her to face Auburnpaw.
He stared at his friend's body and carefully stared at his flank. It was moving up and down slowly and shakily. Drizzlepaw bent down and lowered his muzzle do it was in front of Auburnpaw's face.
He was breathing through his mouth. That was a good thing.
"We've got to get you two out of here." Drizzlepaw motioned to the white she-cat, "She's going to help us, don't worry."
Lavenderseed narrowed her eyes, "I know who you are. You inflicted the murder. You brought that cat to her doom." she spat.
The white she-cat looked down to avoid eye contact, "I know. And I regret that, but I'm going to stop that from happening again." she meowed.
When Lavenderseed didn't look convinced, Drizzlepaw interrupted.
"She helped me all the way here. I wouldn't have made it without her. Right now, we need to focus on getting Auburnpaw out."
Lavenderseed let out a shaky sigh, but nodded in agreement.
Drizzlepaw carefully grabbed Auburnpaw's scruff with his jaw and it was scary how light he was. Lavenderseed placed his body on her shoulders and the white she-cat lead the way.
"I know a shorter route. We're going to have to take that if we want to avoid anyone. I don't know how long it will take before cats notice that Lavenderseed and Auburnpaw are gone." she meows urgently.
She was trotting now and Drizzlepaw had to make an effort to keep up. With Auburnpaw's fur muffling his breathing, it didn't help.
So far, Auburnpaw showed no signs of consciousness.

The white she-cat really did mean shorter route. They were out of the tunnels and she lead them straight through a large clearing.
"You two are just going to have to run." she meowed.
Drizzlepaw looked around and slowly began to see cats' gazes catch them. One, two, three...
"They're going to kill you." he hissed.
The cats were closing in quickly.
She narrowed her eyes, "Run. Now!"